Matt's Uncle S is flying in from California to stay with us for a few days before the holidays. This means lots of fun Philly-centric sightseeing, vintage Christmas karaoke, and that I have to CLEAN THIS DREADFUL MESS OF AN ART OFFICE so Uncle S doesn't have to use my un-filed lesson plan pile as a pillow!

In the midst of cleaning, I happened to find this super-detailed watercolor/goache painting I made of the art room I used to teach in before we made the move to Philly. It brought back so many great memories. That art room was a sight to have beheld. It was double-sided for goodness sakes! (One side with six small tables for the lower elementary and one sight for the middle school artists complete with a kiln, and two pottery wheels. The whole room was decked out with this luscious emerald green carpet (that somehow never got permanently stained!) I karumba! Those were the days.

I managed to record every last detail of the art space I had while I was teaching in a sweet elementary school in rural PA . Now I'm a traveling art teacher outside of Philadelphia. While I love my job, the one thing I do not have is a room of my own. Teaching is a lot different today than it used to be in a plethora of ways. It's very rare (in all professions, really) to land a job when you're 22 and stay put there until retirement. Working conditions, benefits, location, relationships, and hundreds of other micro-variables make it hard for new teachers to "have it all." But I digress...

My advice is to try this little drawing exercise. Try to recreate the space where you work from memory. The most meaningful qualities of that space with rise to the forefront. Save that drawing (preferably in a very untidy office where you'll have no chance of finding it for a good year or two!;) Then when you find it a few years later, hopefully this drawing will remind you of all of the wonderful, warm and fuzzy minutia that time has caused you to forget!

Now back to lesson filing for me! If you've ever made a piece of art inspired by your art room, I wanna see it!

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Sunny is an art teacher who is living the dream. The only thing she enjoys more than her curious students are the adventures she has with her loving husband and cat in the fabulous city of Philadelphia!